I stamped all the black first, in Versafine, and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then stamped the solid flowers, slightly offsetting them from the outlines to create parts that were 'inside' the outline. Those 'inside' portions were then shaded with Copics in matching, but slightly darker shades, for additional depth and contrast.

Sunday, 30 August 2015

This is my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge, where Guest Muse Kristie has given us this clean, crisp inspiration:

I focused on Kristie's
-colour combination
-use of black frame (although I changed the proportion)
-addition of small amounts of sparkle
-vertical/mixed-font sentiment

I used a sentiment from Papertrey's Jolly Holiday and the lights from Simon's Build A Snowman. I coloured the lights with copics and then added Stickles for some shine.

I hope you'll get a chance to join us - the deadline for this week's challenge is Wednesday morning at 8 am. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites (even if you didn't link up a card) until Thursday morning at 8. Voting Results will be posted on Thursday at noon.

My other colours were Adirondack Summer Sunshine, Wendy Vecchi Buttercup and Stampin' Up Baked Brown Sugar. I also sponged a little Tumbled Glass under the flower to help it pop a bit.

I hope you'll get a chance to join us at Muse this week. The deadline is Monday morning at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday morning. Voting results will be posted on Tuesday at noon.

Thursday, 27 August 2015

I just got this Pretty Pink Posh Twine and Bows die in the mail and had to make something fun and graphic with it.

I cut it once in Navy, to create the bottom half of the panel, then once in white to create the top and the 'twine'. I coloured the twine with copics and inlaid the whole thing together, finishing with a sentiment from PTI's Perfect Pairing.

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

I dug through my stamps and came up with this old Christmas stamp from Penny Black - it's part of Twelve Days of Christmas (11 pipers - I also adore the 3 French Hens image!). I stamped it in Versafine Onyx and embossed it with clear embossing powder before colouring it with copics (I needed a magnifying glass for the plaid!). But then I was stuck for an appropriate sentiment. Alphabets are perfect for times like this! I used LawnFawn's Harold's ABCs.

To finish the card I created 1/8th inch frame around the image and used a black card base. This creates a crisp frame around the card, and provides definition and contrast.

Now it's your turn. Go mad for plaid! And make sure you stop by the rest of the DT for more inspiration!

I CAS-ified it by:
-leaving a bigger border around the focal panel
-reducing the size of the circle and heart
-reducing layers (no polka dots)
-increasing the scale (but reducing the number) of stripes
-reducing embellishments (no sequins)

I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this week - the deadline is Wednesday at 8 am. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Thursday at 8 am. Voting results will be posted on Thursday at noon. Hope to see you there!

Friday, 21 August 2015

I'm back! Kate and I went away for a few days this week, to visit family and then to visit friends at their cottage. I was without wifi and unable to craft or post or comment. It was a wonderful little break, but I'm happy to be back in time to play along with this week's Muse Challenge, where Anita has provided us with this inspiration:

I focused on Anita's
-colour scheme (greens and blues with black and gold, with lots of white)
-basic layout
-script sentiment

I changed the squares to circles, and used the biggest image from an old Papertrey set (Dot Spot) inked up in Caribbean Sea Kaleidecolor ink (not sure if you can buy these anymore) and stamped it off the edge of the panel. I used a big, gorgeous sentiment from Mama Elephant Merci. Rather than scattering gold dots over the card, I 'straightened them up' and used a line of gold nail heads from my stash.

I can see that I've fallen behind on commenting on this week's gallery, but I promise to catch up. What I've seen so far is amazing - you guys are always so creative and I (and the whole Design Team) really love to see what you come up with!

Make sure to join us before the deadline on Monday morning at 8 am. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday morning at 8. Voting results will be posted on Tuesday at noon. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, 18 August 2015

I don't know about you, but I'm getting to an age where the numbers are a little too big for my liking! Getting older is definitely better than the alternative, though, isn't it?!

I used MFT's Piece of Cake set to make this card; it has so many fantastic 'getting older' sentiments. I love the way the candles are 'counting' the birthdays. I created a bit of interest by framing my image with the two parts of my sentiment.

Now it's your turn - what's your number? Be sure to check out the rest of the DT for more inspiration:

Monday, 17 August 2015

This is another card that I made with borrowed images from Saturday's Stamping day. I didn't buy this set (Polynesian Paradise) from MFT's release last month, but I'm regretting it now. Just look at this chameleon! There are a ton of adorable image stamps in this set. And it has great, sunny sentiments that would work in so many ways.

I masked and stamped this little guy with the pretty flower grouping image, and added one of the sentiments. Yesterday, I coloured him with copics and then sponged a warm glow around him.

Sunday, 16 August 2015

I don't often play along with challenges more than once, but this is another card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge where Chriss has provided this inspiration:

Yesterday, we had a 'stamping day'. Tracey, Emily, Natasha and I try to get together every few weeks to catch up, have lunch and get creative. We're becoming very efficient and yesterday there was a lot of die cutting and stamping done as we 'borrowed' each other's supplies.

For instance, I borrowed Essentials by Ellen's Mondo Poinsettia (and matching dies) from Emily, and stamped and cut a whole bunch of them to use later. When I came home last night I started colouring one of them and thought how pretty it would be for this challenge. But I hadn't stamped or die cut any leaves. So I just used another poinsettia, coloured green, underneath the red one. I coloured both with Copics and a coating of Wink of Stella (completely invisible in this photo) and put it on a black square for pop and then onto a brushed gold card base.

Still lots of time to join us at MCV this week - the deadline is Wednesday at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until 8 am Thursday morning. Voting results will be posted on Thursday at noon. Hope to see you there!

Friday, 14 August 2015

This is my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions, where Chriss has given us this dramatic and elegant inspiration:

I focused on
-the colours: gold, green, red and black (I added lots of white)
-the poinsettia (mine is from Altenew's Poinsettia & Pine set)
-the layout (image over sentiment)
-the sentiment (mine is from Clearly Besotted's Brushed Greetings) - while it is not a similar font to Chriss', I think that the sketchy feel is a perfect match with the poinsettia

I used the smooth side of some Ranger watercolour paper and embossed the poinsettia and the sentiment in gold. I used three Zig Clean Colour Markers (Carmine Red, Light Green and Dark Yellow) and an aqua pen. I coloured the part of each petal towards the centre of the flower and then pulled the colour out to the edges using the aqua pen. I outlined the bottom of the flower in the green, and then pulled that colour around all the edges (I wish I had faded it out a little more, but I'll do that next time).

While taking the photo, I tilted the card toward the light to get this dramatic glowing effect on the embossing - I'm really pleased with how this turned out!

I hope you'll join us at MCV this week - the deadline is Wednesday at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until 8 am Thursday morning. Voting results will be posted on Thursday at noon. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Anyone else having a hard time keeping up this summer? It's whooshing by and I'm not getting nearly as much done as I had hoped. Starting Monday, both my kids will be at home (ie not at camp) for the rest of the summer, so I can't see how I'll be getting much crafting time. If you don't hear from me (either here or in comments), you'll know why!

Anyway, here's my take on this week's Muse, where Michele gave us this cool, beautiful inspiration:

I stuck with the colours but changed the theme. I recently got these two poinsettia dies from Memory Box - there's a solid flower, and the top layer is so intricate and beautiful cut in silver mirror card.

I grounded the poinsettia using the negative remainder of the white solid poinsettia to sponge MFT Limelight on my round (MFT pierced circle) panel.

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

CAS is simple. Stamp a small image over a small sentiment on a white cardbase and you will never, ever go wrong. But that's not always fun, is it? Sometimes you want to use big images and big sentiments (at the same time!).

I bought this shark (part of a Recollections clear stamp set) years ago because of his (evil or innocent??) smile. This cue card seemed like the perfect opportunity to use him for the very first time. And I knew I also had the perfect sentiment - this one is from The Stamps of Life.

Let's face it - this is not the most CAS card I've ever made. The scale of these stamps made it tricky to have a lot of white space. But I was determined! I tried many (MANY) layouts and here's what I did to keep this card as CAS as possible:

- bigger card (4.25x5.5) than my usual (4.25x4.25)
- horizontal layout to preserve white space on both ends
- minimized layers
- no embellishments
- limited, pale colours (and fading the sponging out to white)
- white card base
- 'straight' water (I think a wave edge would have added fussiness)
-centred focal area (balancing the width of the shark by creating height with the positioning of the sentiment)

I could have put the bottom half of the sentiment on the inside of the card - that would have provided much more white space (I probably could have gone back to my normal, 'little square' format!) but it seems a shame to make someone wait for the punchline! lol!

Anyway, there you have it. We at CASology struggle with CAS sometimes too! But we're all in it together and we can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

Saturday, 8 August 2015

There are many ways to go with this, and I wasn't sure at first what I would do, but that situation happens to me all the time. And trust me, it's nothing that a few (hundred?) sheets of white cardstock can't fix! lol! I tried a whole lot of different ideas, but settled with this Simon snowflake frame (one of the ideas was to use 4 of them, one with each colour). In the end, I like the sponged look of the little inlaid background - almost like the glow of Christmas lights! I used a Simon merry die to finish off.

There are still a few days to play along with us! The deadline is Wednesday at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote until Thursday morning at 8. Voting results will be posted at noon on Thursday. Hope to see you there!

A CAS, one-layer card for this week's Muse Challenge, where DT Member Joan Bardee has provided this card for inspiration:

I focused on the colour scheme although I changed the proportions a bit. I used Paper Smooches Reflections and Bold Buzzwords. I created the edging at the top and bottom by laying my panel in an Avery Elle die and only putting the edge through the Big Shot.

I hope you'll play along with us! The deadline is Monday at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday at 8 am. Voting Results will be posted Tuesday at noon.

My PTI outline stars were cut from an old panel I had created using distress mists in Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed, with gold spritzed over top (they shimmer in real life). I inlaid an old PTI sentiment into my navy blue background.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this week - the deadline is Wednesday morning at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Thursday morning. Voting results will be posted on Thursday at noon.